THE EXCLUSIVENESS OF DIVINE PRIORITY

Matthew chapter 6













Today we are walking in: The Exclusiveness Of Divine Priority







Today we look to the word-SEEK-H1245 baqash--to seek, require, desire, exact, request, to find, to seek to secure, to seek the face, to desire, demand














The Torah testifies...............




Genesis 37:15




And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest H1245 thou?










The prophets proclaim..................




Zephaniah 2:3




Seek H1245 ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek H1245 righteousness, seek H1245 meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.









The writings bear witness..........................




Ruth 3:1




Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek H1245 rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?







“You were not created to work for things but to manage things.”




THE EXCLUSIVENESS OF THE DIVINE PRIORITY




When Yahusha said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear,” and “Seek first [Yah’s] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” He caused a spiritual earthquake. He turned human culture and society on their ears. With those brief words, Yahusha neatly stripped us of everything we think is important. Food, drink, clothing, shelter, cars, money, luxuries; these are the things we live for. These are the things that we get out of bed and go to work for every day. These are the things that make up the objects of most of our prayers. And it is the pursuit of these things that drives human culture and the economies of nations.




Yet, these are the very things Yahusha said we should not live for. In fact, He told us not even to worry about them. He stripped away all of our confusing, energy-draining, deceptive, distracting, misleading and misplaced priorities and left us with one simple focus: seeking the Kingdom of Yah. In so doing, He also gave us the key to a simpler, more fulfilling life. Pursuing one central priority in life instead of ten or twenty secondary ones—what could be simpler?




Furthermore, Yahusha says that when we make the Kingdom of Yah our one priority, all these other things that we have spent our lives pursuing will turn around and pursue us! They will chase us down! This is a fundamental principle of the Kingdom of Yah.




Seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).




This is one of the simplest statements in the Bible, yet one of the least obeyed. We are possessed by our quest for things and for the good life, while Yah is looking for Kingdom-possessed people. All who seek and gain the Kingdom of Yah also gain access to all its riches and resources. Why settle for a scrap here and there that we are able to eke out on our own when the fullness of the Kingdom with its abundant provision is available to us?




Kingdom-possessed people do not live just to make a living; they live for the Kingdom. Kingdom-possessed people do not work just to get a paycheck; they work for the Kingdom.




Kingdom-possessed people do not strive day in and day out to meet their needs; they strive continually for the Kingdom. As Kingdom citizens and children of Yah, they know that all these things already belong to them. Kingdom-possessed people understand that their lives are not for the pursuit of selfish gain but for seeking opportunities to introduce others to the Kingdom.




For Kingdom-possessed people, all of life is about the Kingdom of Yah. To be Kingdom-possessed means to have the Kingdom of Yah as our sole priority, for the Kingdom priority demands an exclusive claim on our lives. Yahusha said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both Yah and money” (Matt. 6:24).




By our Manufacturer’s design, we are not equipped to serve two masters. One will always take precedence over the other. There is room in our hearts for one and only one top priority, and Yahusha said that top priority must be the Kingdom of Yah. This is why He said we are to seek first Yah’s Kingdom and righteousness.




The Kingdom of Yah is so vast that our pursuit of it will fill us to capacity so that we have no room for other priorities. It also will satisfy us so completely that we have no need of other priorities. All the priorities that we recognize as essential or beneficial to life will be satisfied when we set our hearts to seek first the Kingdom of Yah. This is His promise to us. But He requires our exclusive allegiance. He demands from us our whole heart, our undivided loyalty.




THE PERIL OF DIVIDED LOYALTY




The gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven was the only message Yahusha preached, and at every opportunity He reiterated its exclusive nature. The Kingdom priority is exclusive with regard to the cost it exacts from us:




As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Yahusha replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:57-58).




How often do we make commitments to Yah or someone else without first considering what it will cost us in time, energy, money, or inconvenience? We make a promise without realizing what we are getting ourselves into. Later, when we find the requirements to be more than we bargained for, we bail out and end up feeling guilty and defeated because of our failure to follow through.




Like many of us, the man in this passage made a rash promise to follow Yahusha wherever He went. No doubt the man was enthusiastic and sincere, but he had not thought through the implications of his promise. Recognizing this, Yahusha tested the depth of the man’s commitment. He wanted to see how far this man truly was willing to go. Essentially, Yahusha said, “The foxes and the birds have homes but I don’t. I’m homeless; and if you follow Me you will be homeless too. You will no longer enjoy the creature comforts you are used to. Are you ready for that?”




We are not told how the man responded, but that is not important. What is important to understand is that although seeking first the Kingdom of Yah results in the most fulfilling and rewarding life possible, that does not mean it is always easy. The cost of seeking the Kingdom is great. What does the King demand from us? Everything. But the rewards are well worth the cost.




As King and Most High of the universe, Yah owns everything. This means that we own nothing. So it shouldn’t be hard for us to let go of things that don’t belong to us anyway. And because Yah owns everything, He can at any time release for our use anything He wishes. But we must first freely give Him everything we have and everything we are.




Many people follow Yahusha or “seek” the Kingdom of Yah for what they hope to get out of it. This is the exact opposite of the correct motivation, according to Yahusha. The Kingdom of Yah is not a “bless me” club. We do not follow Yah to get Him to pay our bills. We follow Him because He is our King and our heavenly Father. It is in the context of this relationship, and when our priority is right, that He takes care of us and provides for our needs. But seeking the Kingdom comes first. Let me assure you, if you get to the point where you are willing to strip yourself of everything for the sake of Yah’s Kingdom, you are on your way to the greatest life you could ever live!




The Kingdom priority is exclusive also with regard to our relationships, particularly with family:




He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Most High, first let me go and bury my father.” Yahusha said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of Yah” (Luke 9:59-60).




Yahusha called a man who appeared to be willing to follow Him but the man wanted to wait until after he buried his father. This does not mean necessarily that his father was already dead. The man felt bound by his social, legal, and moral obligation to care for his parents. In Hebrew culture, to dishonor one’s parents was a gross sin exceeded only by the sin of dishonoring Yah. Honoring one’s parents is so important that Yah established it as the fifth commandment. Only the commandment to honor Yah is more important.




Notice how Yahusha responded to the man’s request. He said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of Yah.” Yahusha was not being dismissive of the fifth commandment or insensitive to the man’s sense of duty and responsibility. He was simply saying that no priority takes precedence over the priority of the Kingdom of Yah. The Kingdom is more important than family, friends, career, or personal ambitions. Nothing is more important than the Kingdom.




To honor Yah means to obey Him. So to postpone or turn aside from the direct call of Yah in favor of one’s family was to commit a greater sin. Yah’s promise to provide “all these things” when we seek first His Kingdom includes caring for the family we may have to leave behind in order to follow Yah’s call. If we take care of the Kingdom, the King will take care of our family.




As Yahusha continued down the road, a third man spoke to Him:




Still another said, “I will follow you, Most High; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Yahusha replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of Yah” (Luke 9:61-62).




Like the second man, this man wanted to follow Yahusha, but later, on his own terms, after taking leave of his family. Yahusha’ response revealed the divided nature of the man’s heart. The man wanted to follow Yahusha but his whole heart was not in it. He would follow, but would keep looking back to what he left behind. Those who are “fit for service in the kingdom of Yah” have laid aside all other priorities in life except for the Kingdom priority.




These two encounters reveal that the Kingdom priority takes precedence even over the demands and expectations of the family relationship. Both men who spoke to Yahusha had the same problem: divided loyalty.




They wanted to go with Yahusha and they wanted to stay home. Conflicting priorities pulled them in two directions. Their divided loyalty is revealed in how they responded to Yahusha. In both cases, they said, “Most High, first…” In the dynamic of the Kingdom of Yah, those two words never go together; they are incompatible.




The word Most High means owner or master. We cannot call Hamachiach “Most High,” and then say, “But first let me do such and such.” If He is Most High, there is no “first;” there is only “yes.” Either He owns us or He does not. Either He is our Master or He is not. The Kingdom priority does not allow for divided loyalty. It makes an exclusive claim on our lives.




THE TEST OF KINGDOM PRIORITY




Nowhere in the Bible is the exclusive claim of the Kingdom priority illustrated more clearly than in Yahusha’ encounter with a wealthy young man of influence and authority. Commonly known as the “rich young ruler,” he approached Yahusha one day with a very important question:




A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call Me good?” Yahusha answered. “No one is good—except Yah alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.




When Yahusha heard this, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth (Luke 18:18-23).




By all the common standards of his day, this ruler who approached Yahusha was an exemplary young man. He was wealthy (believed generally to be a sign of Yah’s favor), law-abiding and upright in all his behavior; the kind of person that anyone would like to be associated with. He was even religiously devout, careful to observe and obey all the commandments.




Yahusha, however, saw what no one else would have noticed. He observed that the man was trying to serve two masters: Yah and money. This is why He told the man, “You still lack one thing.” We could do a thousand different things and still miss the most important thing. Success in the wrong assignment is failure. By any worldly measure, this man was successful. Yet he was a failure in Yahusha’ eyes because he had neglected the most important thing. His heart was divided. He was not a Kingdom-possessed man because his wealth stood in the way. Consequently, Yahusha told him, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.” The Kingdom priority claims our all. It demands that we be completely stripped of everything before we start. There is no room in the Kingdom of Yah for a spirit of ownership.




This was precisely the young man’s problem. He believed and assumed that all his wealth belonged to him. Despite his claim to piety and his careful observance of the commandments, money was his true Yah. His heart was divided between his wealth and his desire to follow Yah, and when it came down to a choice, he chose his wealth. This is clear from his response to Yahusha’ demand: “he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.” In the end, he was unwilling to surrender his earthly treasure for treasure in Heaven. He was bound by a spirit of ownership. He failed the test of Kingdom priority.




A spirit of ownership is perhaps the greatest external sign that someone is not in the Kingdom or not yet walking in the priority of Kingdom first. As long as we continue to believe that we own our house, the car in our driveway, the clothes in our closet, the food in our refrigerator, or anything else we “possess,” we are not walking in the Kingdom priority. We are not truly seeking first the Kingdom of Yah. If Yah cannot ask for and take from us anything He wants anytime He wants without us putting up a fight, then He is not our Most High, no matter what we claim.




THE PERIL OF A SPIRIT OF OWNERSHIP




The rich young ruler went away from Yahusha sad because the price of entering the Kingdom of Yah and gaining treasure in Heaven was more than he was willing to pay. This prompted Yahusha to reiterate further to His followers the peril of a spirit of ownership:




Yahusha looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of Yah! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Yah.” Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Yahusha replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with Yah” (Luke 18:24-27).




Wealth, or more specifically, the spirit of ownership, is a hindrance to a person entering the Kingdom of Yah. The word enter, as Yahusha used it in this passage, means to “experience the true effect of.” In other words, it is hard for a rich man to experience the true effect of what Kingdom living is like because his wealth is his prison. He is so trapped by the pursuit of things that he has no time to pursue the first thing. He has become a prisoner of his own passions.




Yahusha then shocked His listeners with His statement that a camel could go through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man could enter the Kingdom of Heaven. His listeners, entrenched in the belief that wealth was a sign of Yah’s favor, asked, “Who then can be saved?” What they were really asking was, “If it is difficult for the rich (the Yah-favored) to enter the Kingdom of Yah, then what hope is there for the rest of us?” Yahusha assured them that what was impossible in the eyes of men was possible with Yah.




When Yahusha spoke of “the eye of a needle” He did not have a sewing needle in mind. In that part of the world, both then and now, the eye of a needle refers also to two wooden posts planted vertically in the ground close enough together so that a camel can squeeze between them only with difficulty. Because of the sand and the dryness of that desert environment, camels can become very dirty very quickly. The eye of a needle is used to help clean dirty camels.




First, the camel driver leads the camel between the two posts until the animal’s sides are stuck against them. Thus immobilized, the camel remains still while it receives a bath. Afterward, the driver carefully draws the still-wet camel the rest of the way through the eye of the needle. With this analogy, Yahusha was saying that although it is difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it is not impossible. A spirit of ownership can keep us out, but Yah can help us let go of that spirit.




NOTHING WE GIVE UP FOR THE KINGDOM IS EVER LOST




One reason we should be able to give up the spirit of ownership is because nothing we give up for the Kingdom of Yah is ever lost. On the contrary, it is multiplied and returned to us. This too is a fundamental principle of the Kingdom of Yah. Consider this exchange between Peter and Yahusha:




Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” “I tell you the truth,” Yahusha said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of Yah will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (Luke 18:28-30).




After the bombshell Yahusha dropped about the difficulty of rich people entering the Kingdom of Yah, Peter may have been feeling a little uncertain about his own status. So he reminded Yahusha that he and the rest of Yahusha disciples had left everything in order to follow Him. This may have been Peter’s not-so-subtle way of asking, “What’s in it for us?”




Yahusha’ answer reveals that the exclusive nature of the Kingdom priority is not as risky or as outrageous as it may seem at first. In essence, Yahusha says that no one who gives up everything for the Kingdom of Yah has really lost anything, because they will receive many times as much in this age, not to mention eternal life in the age to come. Nothing that we give up for the sake of the Kingdom of Yah do we lose. Nothing. The King will return it to us with more besides.




If your priority is to have a nice house, and you live and work day in and day out for that house and the mortgage, and that house is the focus of your life, Yah may let you have it, but you will miss the fullness of what He wants for you. He says, “If you exchange your priority for Mine—if you give up your priority of a house and take up my priority of the Kingdom—I’ll not only give you a house, but I’ll give you many houses!”




Whatever we give to the King for the sake of His Kingdom, He will multiply and return to us. The more we give, the more we will receive, not for our own lusts or greedy desires, but so we can seek His Kingdom even more, and help others to do so as well.




Yahusha said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The Kingdom priority is exclusive but it is not limited. Yah wants you to have “all these things;” He just doesn’t want them to have you. So forsake everything for the sake of Yah’s Kingdom. Give Him your all and He will give you “all these things.”




PRINCIPLES




1.Yah is looking for Kingdom-possessed people.




2.For Kingdom-possessed people, all of life is about the Kingdom of Yah.




3.The Kingdom priority demands an exclusive claim on our lives.




4.The Kingdom priority is exclusive with regard to the cost it exacts from us.




5.The Kingdom of Yah is not a “bless me” club.




6.The Kingdom priority is exclusive with regard to our relationships, particularly with family.




7.Nothing is more important than the Kingdom.




8.If we take care of the Kingdom, the King will take care of our family.




9.There is no room in the Kingdom of Yah for a spirit of ownership.




10.Nothing we give up for the Kingdom of Yah is ever lost. On the contrary, it is multiplied and returned to us.




11.The Kingdom priority is exclusive but it is not limited.